Clinker grinder



March 15 1927. I 0,659

' F. HODGKINSON CLINKER GRINDER Filed April 12. 1921 [AHA FR (wasHovcmmsou INVENT R- AITORNEY I Patented Mar. 15,1927. f

UNITED STATES worse more nonexmson, or swnnrnmonn, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNOR 'ro wns'rmei HOUSE nnncrnre Ann MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Aconrona'rron or PENN- srnvnm.

, cnnvxnn. GRINDER.-

npplieation filednpril 12.11921. Serial No. 460,789. 4

My invention relates to clinker grinders for mechanical stokers and moreparticularly to clinker grinders located at the" end of a progressivefeed grate, and it has for its 010- 6 ject to produce an apparatus ofthe character designated which shall be simple in operation, and ruggedin construction and which shall effectively break up clinker and ash,

before they are discharged into the ash pit.

In the accompanying drawing, the single figure is a diagrammatic view,partially in section, showing an apparatus constructed in accordancewlth my invention as applied to a stoker furnace.

The efliciency of a mechanical stoker is measured to a large degree bythe amount of heat which can be extracted from the fuel supplied to theboiler furnace. The difficulties usually encountered in fuel'combustion'by mechanical operations are to obtain a complete fuel combustion and aready disposal of the clinker and ash. Owing to the high 'ash content ofmany fuels now on the market, much difliculty has been experienced fromthe chokin up of the ash discharge means, commo y known as bridgmg over.Brid g over occurs when mol-.

ten clinker ash c oses over the space'between the active grate and thebridge wall. I have discovered that by placing a device constructed inaccordance with my invention beneath the discharge end of a mechanicalstoke}? 1flurnatce Idreduce to a lalinlimum any possi 1 'ty 0 bri gingover an c ogging up of the ash disposal apparatus. I further ditionalair supply means whereby all of the fuelisconsumed and only ash andclinker are discharged into the ash pit.

Referring to the drawing for a more de- 1 tailed description of myinvention, I indicate a fuel hopper 10 from which fuel is fed into afurnace 11 by a fuel feeding ram 12 .operated by a convenient mechanicaldrive means 13. a

During the course of combustion fuel travels over the inclined gratesurfaces of the furnace 11 and upon reaching the lower end v should beentirely consumed and the ash discharged into a pit 14. 4 s The pit 14is formed by two convergingdiverging side-wall members 15 and 16 whichare pivoted at their lower ends at points 17 and 18. The upper portionsof the members 15 and 16 are provided with lugs 19 and 20, respectively,to which'operating lmksare secured, as hereinafter more fully described.Located beneath the convergingdiverging members 15 and 16 are twotoothed rollers 21 and 22 mounted on shafts 23 and 24. The rollers 21and 22 are spaced relatively closer together than the convergingdiverglng members 15 and 16 at their posltion of closest proximity.

The side members 15 and 16 are given relative movement by the stokerdrive mechanism 13. A variable throw device 25 of any suitableconstruction is pivoted to the drive mechanism at 13. A rod'27 isconnected to the variable throw device 25 the two forming 28, the latterbeing oscillatory about a fulerum member 29 secured to the furnace set-In link 26 which connects one arm of-the bell crank lever 28 and the lug19' of the sidewall member 15 is a yieldable device 30 provided with ayieldable'means 31 of any well known and suitable construction. Asimilar yieldable means is placed in link 32.

The lower arm of the bell crank lever 28 is connected to the lug 20 ofthe side wall member 16 by. any suitable arrangement of levers. 1 Asshown, a link 32 extends between the 1 lower arm of the bell crank 28 tothe lower end of a lever 33 which is fulcrumed at its upper end 'to thefurnace setting as at 34. A link 36 connects the lever 33 to the lug 20.

The arrangement of the operating mechanism above described is preferablysuch that the side-wall members ,15 and 16 are when at their innerpositions, in alinement with the furnace side-walls'37 and 38 of the ashdischarge parts of the furnace.

During the working down of the clinker and ash through the pit 14, Isecure the combustion of any unburned portions of the fuel by providingair ducts 39 in the side wall members 15 and 16 to allow admission ofair from suitably arranged air chambers 40 and 100 41 located at eachslde of the ash discharge apparatus. 1 r

The operation of my invention is as follows:

Fuel is fed into the furnace 11 by means 105 of the feeder mechanismlocated in the front of the furnace The fuel travels along the gratesurface where the combustible portions are largely consumed. Thenon-combustible portions of the fuel, especially of fuel hav- 0 tweenthe sides.

ing high ash content, leaves the rear of the grate in large sheets ormasses of fused 15 and 16. It should be noted that theconvergingwdiverging wall members in their inward and outward movementcrush any clinker and ash that is too large to pass be The rollers 21and 22 beneath the side members are arranged to grind to a requisitefineness all clinker and ash that passes between the side members. Thediverging portion of the side members freely admit all material to thegrinders and this eliminates all troubles heretofore experienced fromclogging up of the clinker grinding apparatus.

During the process of fuel combustion it is obvious that some unconsumedfuel is carried into the ash pit 14 and in many of the installations nowin use this unconsumed fuel is passed on into the ash pit as waste.

I'p'rovide for, complete combustion by providing the series of air inletports 39 to which air under ressure is supplied by forced draft where y,during the agitation of the unconsumed fuel and ash in the ash dischargemeans by movement of the side members, the fuel is entirely consumedthereby obtaining the greatest heat content of the fuel consumed. Again,in using a fuel with a high-ash content, large masses of molten clinkerofttimes bridge over the entrance. to the ash discharge means and cannotbe crushed by the rollers usually provided in such installations, andall clinker and ash iswithheld from the crusher. By employing anapparatus constructed in accordance with my invention the sides of whichare pivoted at their lower ends and oscillated by links at their topportions such that a relative squeezing motion is imparted to the sides,

the clinker and 'ash coming in contact withthe sides are crushed andworked down to the throat of the ash discharge means and any clinker orash passing the throat will be readily received and crushed to therequisite degree of fineness by the rollers 21 and 22 located below. Ifurther provide for a yieldable means in the operation of the ap aratuswhereby should any unbreakable su stance enter'into the pit 14 saidmeans will'yield and thereby prevent any serious dama e to the primarycrushing apparatus. 33y constructing t e apparatus in the form of aconverging-diverging pit, the ash and clinker are more readily workedthrough and all possibilities of clo ging heretofore experienced inclinker grin er constructions are avoided While I have shown myinvention in but one form, it will be-obvious to those skilled in theart that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various otherchanges and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof,and I desire,therefore, that only such limitations shall be placedthereupon as are imposed by the prior art or'as are specifically setforth in the appended claims.

What I claim is: I

1. In combination with a mechanical stoker having a drive mechanism anda progressive feed grate, an ash discharge apparatus located beneath oneendgthereof comprising two oppositely-disposed side walls, the wallsshaped to form an ash receptacle having a converging-diverging verticalsection, and means cooperatively associated with the drive mechanism toimpart a relative movement to the side walls of the apparatus.

2. In combination in a progressive feed furnace, a driving mechanism forthe progressive feed, an ash discharge apparatus associated with thefurnace comprising opposedly disposed converging-diverging walls pivotedat their lower ends, link means operatively connecting with the drivemechanism and the upper portions of said walls, crushing rollers locatedbeneath the movable walls in such a manner that material passing betweenthe walls will fall freely into the apparatus at the end of the gratecomprising two convergin -diverging wall members pivoted at their owerends, means'operatively connecting the up er portion of the wall membersand the drive mechanism, including a variable throw mechanism and ayieldable connection, and crushing rollers arranged beneath the o ningbetween the wall members, formed t; the convergingdiverging sides to indany material passing between the si e wall members during theiroscillatory movement.

4. In combination with a progressive fuel feed stoker, an ash dischargeap aratus comprising a pair of oscillatory si e walls, pivotally mountedat their lower ends in opposed, cooperative relation, means actuated,by. the fuel feed mechanism to oscillate the side walls toward and fromeach other I tal section intermediate the top and bottom,

pivotal supporting means for said walls associated with their lowerportions, and means to oscillate the walls to and from each other aboutsaid supporting means.

7. An ash discharge apparatus for stokers comprising oscillatory sidewalls forming an ash receptacle having a throat portion between its topand bottom, means oscillating the walls to and from'each other to efiecta minimum distance between the walls.

9. In combination with ,a stoker, an ash receptacle having a restrictedsection between the top and bottom thereof comprising pivotally mountedconverging-diverging oscillatory side walls adapted to receive ash fromthe stoker, air supplying means in the converging portion of thereceptacle,

and means for oscillating the walls at a fre quency in proportion to thestoker speed.

10. In combination with a stoker, an ash receptacle ofconverging-diverging sectionforming a restricted area intermediate theto and bottom thereof having oscillatory si e walls ivotally supportedin spaced relation to orm a crusher, crushing rollers beneath thediverging portion of the receptacle to receive ash therefrom, airsupplying means in the converging portion of the receptacle, and meansoscillating said walls toward and from each other at a frequency inproportion to the stoker speed.

11. In combination with a stoker having a progressive feed grate, an ashreceptacle of converging-diverging section forming a restricted areaintermediate the top and bottom thereof having oscillatory side wallsadapted to receive ash from the grate in the converging portion thereof,crushing rollers beneath the diverging port-ion adapted to receive ashtherefrom, and means oscillating thewalls to and from each other at afrequency in proportion to the stoker speed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st dayof March, 1921. s

' FRANCIS HODGKINSON.

